Sunday, June 23, 2013

The Plymouth and its pilgrims

In the early
days of jazz, long before the music was codified and taught in academia, the magical mysteries of the music were -- as the old timers would say – “learned on the bandstand.”

A collection of Saxtrum Club's founding members with Jaki Byard at far right, front row

Mentoring
was the key to the highway. Up and coming players gathered information heard on
radio, recordings, books, and from other practitioners. Role models were where
you found them.

To rub
elbows with professionals was rare, especially of the touring kind. To play
with the jazz stars of the day was virtually unheard of -- unless of course you
were fortunate enough to find them at an after-hours jam session.

Here in Central New England, the musicians of the “Greatest Generation” -- those born in the Depression and fought in WWII -- created a local venue that attracted some of best and brightest players of the day.

It was
called the Saxtrum Club, a musician’s cooperative located in the Laurel/Clayton
neighborhood. The Plymouth Theater (now called the Palladium) at 261 Main Street was its wellspring.

Plymouth interior

The great
pianist Jaki Byard was one of the club’s founders. In an interview with Len
Lyons for his book, The Great Pianists, Byard said, “It was a private club
organized by a few of us musicians. We used to jam and hold rehearsals there.
The jam sessions were usually started after midnight.

Young Jaki

“There
was a nearby theater where the big names played, and they used to come in to
jam with us: Joe Venuti, Basie, the members of Stan Kenton’s early orchestra. I
was sixteen, and I guess I originated the name, Saxtrum, for sax, trumpet, and
drums. I was playing trumpet at the time with a local band led by Howie
Jefferson.”

Young Barney Price

Young Howie Jefferson

In Worcester jazz lore, tales of legendary
figures such as Roy Eldridge, ChuBerry, Herschel Evans, Gene Krupa, and
a young singer named Frank Sinatra burned the midnight oil at the club in jam sessions
that still conjure tales for the ages. This, of course, was after completing their public
performance at the Plymouth.

Local
musicians to benefit from such nights eventually became national players
themselves -- Byard, Barbara Carroll, Don Asher, Bobby Holt, Murray Guarlnick,
Paul Kokunen, Ockie Menard, Lou Mercuri and Don Fagerquist, just to name a few -- not to
mention local heroes like Emil Haddad, Eddy Shamgochian, Rockie Blunt, and
co-founders Howie Jefferson and Barney Price, who were presented with travel opportunities, but opted to stay home.

The impact, influence, and inspiration drawn from these musical encounters were immeasurable. In a 1969 interview with writer Ev Skehan, saxophonist Howie Jefferson said, “I remember Sam Donahue comin’ into the club and sittin’ in his tenor case and wailin’ right through about 20 choruses of ‘Indiana’ without ever comin’ up for air. Main, that cat could blow.”The dates
of these exchanges are difficult to pin down. The Saxtrum Club
dates roughly from 1938 to some time in the war years. In the years that the club was open, virtually every name act and big band on the touring circuit played Worcester. Unfortunately, most of
the Saxtrum's more than 100 members are now gone.

Another
regular at the Saxtrum was Al Hirt. “Old Jumbo was stationed up at FortDevens,” Jefferson said. “It got so he was at the
club every Saturday night.”

Al "Jumbo" Hirt

These
names represent the deepest bench of jazz musicians Worcester has ever offered. The historic
Plymouth Theater, built in the late 1920s, was a 3,000-seat venue situated on
the corner of Main and Central streets. The Saxtrum
Club was located in a storefront on the corner of Glenn and Clayton Street (PlumleyVillage today), less than a mile
away.

In the
early 1940s, the Plymouth would showcase acts for three
nights. “Tuesdays nights they tore the roof off the Saxtrum
Club, Skehan said. "The name bands would arrive in Worcester on Monday for a three-day
engagement at the Plymouth. Having traveled many miles by
bus or car, they’d all fall into the Saxtrum as soon as their gig was over at
the Plymouth.

"They’d play until the early
hours of the morning, challenging the local musicians with new ideas and
sounds. Then, on Wednesday night, the band would finish at the Plymouth and be back on the road. It was a
ritual each musician looked forward to whenever he came to Worcester.”

According
to Skehan, out of these sessions the Saxtrum Club’s reputation spread far beyond the confines of Worcester, drawing national attention. “Musicians
from all over the country knew that here was a place where jazz men got together to
exchange ideas, to create, to “carve” each other, and to help each other. They
loved it. The freedom of expression and impromptu jazz sessions that typified
the Saxtrum Club spread quickly through the area. Before long musicians were
beating a path to the club’s door.”

Skehan
also contends that at the same time that the Saxtrum Club “really began to
swing, the big-name bands were appearing at the Plymouth Theater.” He lists such
national acts as Tommy Reynolds, Scat Davis, Gene Krupa, Chu Berry, Carl Hoff,
Roy Eldridge, Anita O’Day, Cozy Cole, Cab Calloway, Sam Donahue, Charlie
Ventura, and many others made frequent visits to the club
and “sat in” with the local musicians.”

Other
names rumored to make the trek from the Plymouth to the Saxtrum include Hershel
Evans, Lucky Millender, Fats Waller, Charlie Ventura, Anita O’Day, and Don Byas
-- all conceivable given their documented Worcester public appearances at the time.

As the war raged in Europe, more and more young Worcester musicians laid down their instruments and picked up arms to join the fight.

“In the early 1940s many of the local musicians went into the armed forces,” Skehan wrote. “This was the end of the Saxtrum Club. Although the few members who stayed out of the service tried to keep the club alive, things just weren’t the same. Funds soon ran out and the club was abandoned.”

Through name changes, a variety of owners, and its recent dodging of the wrecking ball, the Plymouth Theater continued to stage national acts. Although nary a jazz musician graces the bill today, every starlit evening the ghosts of yesterday make a bee-line to the corner of Glenn and Clayton streets to wake up the dawn with music.

*Note: This is a work in progress. Comments, corrections, and suggestions are always welcome at:

2 comments:

Congratulations on your blog with many interesting info and pictures. I'm a Cab Calloway fan and would like to know the exact date for his gig at the Plymouth. Thank you for you reply.You may check my website about Cab Calloway: www.thehidehoblog.com

Wow, this is great! I'm a maintenance guy at the Plymouth, now the Palladium and am no great shakes at researching the place, or anything he he. This is a wonderful resource for me! My paintbrush and I are still working on making her shine again and these images, posters, and education sure do make me smile. Great article! To think that I mop a stage that was graced by Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, and Count Basie just blows my mind. I could be making more money elsewhere, but I love my old theater. I love her dearly. Thanks for providing such an enlightening piece!!!